Switching device for street-railway cars



(No Model.)

J. BRAUTIGAM. SWITCHING DEVICE FOR STREET RAILWAY CARS. No. 526,481.

Patented Sept. 25, 1894.

INVENTOP A TTORNEYS.

1'4: seams vzrzns c0, PHOTQUHKO.WASN1NGTORD.C.

from the moving car.

I ing shown in section.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH BRAUTIGAM, OE BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

SWITCHING DEVICE FOR STREET-RAILWAY CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 526,481, dated September 25, 1894.

Application filed October 19, 1893. Serial No. 488.578. (No model.)

for Street-Railway Cars, of which the following is a specification. I

The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved switching device for street railway cars, such as horse-cars, cable cars, "trolley cars, motor cars, &c., by means of which device the switch can readily be set In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front-view of my improved switching device on the car, part of the car platform be- Fig. 2 is a side-view, in aplane at right-angles to the plane of Fig. 1, part of the car floor being in section. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan-view, on the line 3 3, of Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. I I

To the bottom of the car floor G two guideboxes H are bolted to project down vertically and each contains a sliding-bar J having its lower end forked and carrying a roller K in said forked lower end. The rear edge of each bar .I is toothed, to form arack, and said rack engages a toothed segment L passing through a slot in the rear side of the box H, which toothed segment is formed on the front end of a lever M pivoted at M to an arm M of a box H on the outer end of which arm M the lower end of a helical spring O bears, the upper end of which spring is fastened to the car floor. An angle-lever P is mounted on the same pivot with thelever having a foot-plate T on its upper end.

Whenever the switch is to be operated from the car the correspondingfoot-plate T is pressed downward,whereby the lever B is caused to act on and depress the front end of the angle-lever I, and thereby the rear end of said angle-lever is raised and the spring 0 compressed. At thesame time the rear end of the lever M is raised and the toothed segment L is swung downward, so as to move the bar J downward. Thereby the corresponding roller is moved down to the pavement and can act onthe switch tongue or mechanism for shifting the switch tongue to the right. When the switch-tongue is not in contact with a rail A andis to be moved to the same, that is, to the left-hand, and the car moves in the direction of the arrow 00, the right-hand foot-plate T is depressed and the right-hand roller K lowered, so that when said roller strikes the right-hand curved end pff the plate E said plate E is moved to the verse direction of the arrow m. In all cases the righthand foot-plate is depressed when the car is to run to the right and the lefthand foot-plate is depressed when the car is to be run to the left. The spring raises the bars Jas soon as the foot is removed from the foot-plate T.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- I 1. The combination with a car, of a guide extending downwardfrom the same, a bar guided therein, a roller on the lower end of the bar, a pivoted lever having a toothed segment. engaging a rack on the guided bar, a spring acting on said lever and an additionalpivoted lever connected with the lever having the toothed segment, and means extending above the car floor, for operating said additional lever, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a car floor, of a guide projecting downward from the same, a bar guidedin said guide and provided with a rack, a roller on the lower end of said rackbar, a lever pivoted on an arm of said guide and provided at one end with I a toothed segmentengaging said rack, a spring acting on In a. similar manner the foot-plates are depressed when the car movesin the inthe opposite end of said lever, an additional my invention I have signed my name in preslever connected with the lever having the ence of two subscribing witnesses,

toothed segment, a cam-lever pivoted to the guide, anda rod pivoted to the eam-lever'and JOSEPH BRAUTIGAM. 5 extending up to the car floor, substantially as Witnesses:

set forth. OSCAR F. GUNZ,

In testimony'that I claim the foregoing as CHARLES SOHROEDER. 

